Recent Match Report - England vs New Zealand 1st ODI 2023

New Zealand won the toss and chose to bowl versus England

England have handed Harry Brook a chance to open the batting and stake a dramatic claim for a last-minute World Cup berth, after Jason Roy suffered a back spasm and was ruled out of the first ODI against New Zealand at Cardiff.

With Jonny Bairstow also missing out after picking up a shoulder niggle in last week’s fourth T20I against the same opponents, Brook will be batting alongside another of his more obvious rivals for a batting berth, Dawid Malan, who suffered a lean run in the T20Is but has been one of England’s form batters in the 50-over format of late, with four centuries in the past 14 months.

Both men will be straight into the action at a sunny Sophia Gardens, after Tom Latham won the toss and chose to bowl first, in New Zealand’s first ODI against England since their agonising near-miss in the World Cup final at Lord’s in July 2019.

New Zealand’s attack will be bolstered by the re-introduction of Kyle Jamieson, who played in two of the T20Is last week as he continued his return from a back stress fracture, but hasn’t been tested in the 50-over format since April 2022. Trent Boult, however, will not feature in his first New Zealand match since last November, and nor will Adam Milne, who has reported a tight hamstring.

The drama at the top of England’s order overshadowed the news of Gus Atkinson’s ODI debut, which was confirmed shortly before the toss when he was handed his cap by Stuart Broad.

Unlike Brook, Atkinson – who impressed with four wickets on his T20I debut against the same opponents last week – has been named in England’s provisional World Cup squad, and so today’s outing is an important milestone as he continues his fast-tracking as an international cricketer, ahead of England’s opening fixture of the tournament – also against New Zealand at Ahmedabad on October 5.

England: 1 Dawid Malan, 2 Harry Brook, 3 Joe Root, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Chris Woakes, 8 David Willey, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Gus Atkinson, 11 Reece Topley.

New Zealand: 1 Will Young, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Henry Nicholls, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (capt & wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Rachin Ravindra, 8 Kyle Jamieson, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Lockie Ferguson